A Sonshine Friend in his own words asked me this faith question.
I have some relatives who have been pulled into the intolerant and irrational cult of personality. From a faith perspective, the attitude of some bothers him, as they're endorsing things they would have found abhorrent before.
For example, in the most egregious instance, one of his relatives told him the former president was the victim in the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol, and the real culprits behind it were the scientists and doctors who worked with the Chinese to invent COVID, in order to bring about one-world government.
If criminal charges are a far-left plot, well, then, the prosecutors, investigators and judge are dirty communist liars. And these same relatives are expressing worries about immigrants and LBGTQ community.
So let’s take this intolerant, aggressive, irrational, divisive tone and put it in the hands Jusus. And he says to his disciples, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while. You need some rest.”
It would seem the crowd noises and their desperations have overwhelmed his disciples. And the human side of Jesus says, "Guys and gals, you've been working too hard. Come away. You need your space and you need to rest." And that's a beautiful human concern that Jesus expresses for their very human needs and what we are going through in our country today.
Jesus and his disciples come to the other side, getting off the boat, he sees these masses of people. And what's his first reaction? His first reaction isn't, "I've got to teach these people spiritual things." He had compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
I wonder if we are like those sheep without a shepherd. We're in need of direction. We're in need of correction. We're in need of teaching. We're in need of wisdom. And very often in our lives, we happen upon other sheep without a shepherd. Very often we look at other people, what's happening in their life, how they're responding to what's happening in their life, and we think, "Wow, that person is lost." And that's a judgment, right? Jesus didn't get off the boat and say, "Wow, these people, they're all messed up. They are lost." No, he got off the boat with great compassion, "These people are sheep without a shepherd."
Were they lost and confused? Yeah, they were. Were they yearning and hungry for direction and wisdom and teaching and guidance? Yes, they were. But Jesus reaction is compassion, not judgment. And I think very often when we happen upon sheep without a shepherd in our lives, our critically thinking minds do go very quickly to judgment, and we have to retrain. And then, of course, what does Jesus do? As he landed, he saw the great throng and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends help us to tap into the compassion that you have for each of us, when we're lost? Help us to listen to one another, to be kind and not judgmental, to be open to your wisdom and guidance, to never accept violence but seek reconciliation, peace and understanding. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a” gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27)
